


consume the darkness, return it to light (onward to a brave dawn)

by Kiri_Kaitou_Clover



Series: Reincarnated Hearts [5]
Category: Final Fantasy VII (Minor Crossover), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Book 5: Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Canon Compliant, F/M, For kh at least, Gen, M/M, Post-Kingdom Hearts III, Reincarnation, Rewrite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:21:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23630752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover/pseuds/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover
Summary: To be reincarnated was a rarity. To be reincarnated was never talked about. But for the witches and wizards living in the age of the Boy-Who-Lived, a prophecy rings of children of rebirth, of Light and Dark. Of Land, Sea, and Sky coming together.For one young wizard, he grasps once more at the path of dawn.(A rewrite of Consume the Darkness, Return it to Light.)
Relationships: Axel & Roxas & Xion (Kingdom Hearts), Kairi/Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts), Zack Fair/Cloud Strife
Series: Reincarnated Hearts [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/220748
Comments: 28
Kudos: 124





	1. A Scattered Dream, But a Far Off Memory

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Consume the Darkness, Return it to Light (Discontinued)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2174661) by [Kiri_Kaitou_Clover](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover/pseuds/Kiri_Kaitou_Clover). 



> Well I guess it's time! 
> 
> Welcome, one and all, to the new, rewritten first chapter of CtDRitL. New readers, welcome. I hope you enjoy this fic. Old readers, welcome back, and I hope this rewrite is up to standard!
> 
> As you all probably noticed, I've... changed the title a bit, in order to differentiate it from the original fic. And I have to say, I'm actually loving this new first chapter way more than what I'd originally done. Again, it's more up to date with my current style. 
> 
> Anyways, please enjoy this new version of chapter 1, and judge it with your own eyes.

Dreams.

It always started with dreams.

Dreams of his mother's sacrifice, red cascading around her.

Dreams of brilliant green, and an angered scream.

(The only true memory of his mother left, and it was of her death)

* * *

The older he grew, the more the dreams changed.

Dreams of loneliness, clawing at him.

Dreams of the phantoms he knew were Dementors.

Dreams of Cedric's lifeless body crashing down in front of him, eyes staring back emptily.

(The Wizarding World was wonderful, sure, but he knew he came back with more terrible dreams than happy ones at the end of every year)

* * *

And of course there were the other dreams. The ones unrelated to his life.

Dreams of never ending darkness, cold and unyielding.

Dreams of whispers of power, of betrayal.

Dreams of keys, whirling and flying through the air of a wasteland

Dreams of gold eyes and silver hair, of madness and corrupting power.

Dreams of a light, shattering into fragments that could almost be considered crystal.

Dreams of a sky, fading and never returning, into the sunset.

Dreams of bone white thrones, a blade in his hand.

Dreams of a pair of limp and almost lifeless bodies, one on the ground, one on a throne.

Dreams where he hears a scream of fear and desperation and he realises they came from him.

(The screams and the emotions from those very dreams were so much worse in the days after the Dementors attacked, before he was brought to Grimmauld's Place. Feelings of helplessness, rage, uselessness, desperation, heartache, loneliness. They'd become so much worse, worse than the isolation his fame tended to make him feel)

* * *

Those were the bad dreams. The ones that left him waking up anxious, looking around frantically for two people that weren't there by his side, only to realise that he was alone and he feels like he was missing a purpose.

Then there were the good dreams.

Dreams of warm light, warm sand, of waves crashing onto a shore.

Dreams of wooden swords clashing, playful laughter and promises made.

Dreams of a raft that never made its maiden journey, but still floated at the docks it was left on.

Dreams of a night sky where stars fell around them.

Dreams of quiet jealously, but also feelings of rivalry.

Dreams of a star shaped fruit, being passed to one, and being shared by two.

Dreams of sky blue eyes shining with light and warming reassurance, vast and welcoming as the sky he represented.

Dreams of brilliant red that was passionate fire as it was gentle and kind like flowers, that was what she was.

* * *

He kept seeing the two in his dreams, the boy and the girl, over and over and over again. More often than anything else. His chest ached with yearning for something that wasn't there. Something that felt like what he had originally had with Hermione and Ron, but even more. He often woke wondering why they felt important to him, that he needed to find them and be with them.

Grimmauld's Place had helped, if only a little, with the dreams. At least to those pertaining his Cedric or his mother. The stranger dreams, however persisted unless he slept in Buckbeak's room, under the protective wings of the proud Hippogriff. It helped, that Sirius was often present during those nights for similar reasons, trying to ward off his own nightmares while sleeping in his Animagus form. Whether it be that of his parents death and his arrest, or his time in Azkaban, or that of his own tortured childhood, Harry didn't know for sure. But he felt protected and safe whenever he slept there.

The morning afters always had the Order scrambling to find them. Remus, or Fred and George, while keeping their safe place a secret, would wake them up. Harry and Sirius would then stroll into the chaos that was the dining room looking well rested and amused at what their 'disappearance' caused.

It made him more aware though, of how controlling his friends were. For Hermione, he understood her reasons, for many a time her worries were backed by the knowledge she gained. Sometimes it was biased and out of ignorance, but at least she made some effort to try and understand. Ron on the other hand, his friendship with Ron had been fractured by the previous year. He hadn't really forgiven the red-head for the jealousy driven betrayal of their friendship, Harry's _first_ friendship, despite the other having apologised. He accepted it, but that didn't mean he forgave him. Rather, he had become more wary whenever Ron tried to push him to do something now.

(A warning from Fred and George about their younger brother and sister's penchant towards the need for fame and money often overriding their common sense only strengthened that wariness.)

It made him yearn though. Yearn for the genuine friendships he'd felt in those dreams. But with how frequent they'd become, Harry had begun to wonder if they were something _more_.

* * *

At some point during his stay, bored and frustrated in his wait for his 'trial', it had culminated in Harry grabbing a pile of books on dreams from the Black library and bringing them to Buckbeak's room for some peace as he researched. Which was how Sirius and Remus found him, pouring over some of the open books.

"Recurring dreams?" Sirius repeated, frowning at Harry. "Do you recognise anything in them?"

Harry shook his head, "Not always. The ones that I do were often the ones about my mother and Cedric."

"Lily, huh," Sirius sighed, scratching the back of his head. "I'm constantly surprised and worried that you even remember what happened that night."

"The thing is, I know that those dreams are memories. But for some reason, the other recurring dreams, the ones where I don't seem to recognise anything? Those feel like memories as well," Harry muttered as he paced around Buckbeak's room, avoiding the books around as he did. "It was always as if I was watching another's life, only I was getting small pieces of what they'd experience rather than the whole thing. And I know those dreams were interconnected, or else I wouldn't be seeing the same two people in them over and over again."

"That sounds familiar," Remus said as he scanned the floor, and picked up one of the books on the ground. "I believe this would be what you're looking for, Harry."

"'Past Dreams, How to deal with Reincarnation'?" Both Harry and Sirius blinked as they read the book title. Harry though, caught the hint of familiarity in Sirius' eyes at the sight of the book when he replied, "I'm surprised you even know of this book. I mean, this wouldn't be the first choice people would make when someone asks about recurring dreams."

"Well, I did... come across it when we were back in Hogwarts," Remus clarified with some hesitation. "With how Harry described his dreams, it matched some of what I remember reading then."

"But why did you immediately jump to a book about _reincarnation_ of all things?" Harry questioned. It was just, such a big jump from dreams to something about past lives.

Sirius and Remus shared a glance, as if they knew something he didn't.

"I think its better for you to just read it for yourself, pup," Sirius said, instead of explaining further, and as he and Remus left the room he suggested, "Tell us when you're ready to head to Gringotts, alright?"

Harry blinked. What did Gringotts have to do with anything?

* * *

It had to do with everything, as a matter of fact.

The more he read through the book, the more he understood why Sirius and Remus suggested it in the first place. Sure, not everything mentioned in the book was a perfect fit, but considering it did mention that not everyone received the memories of their past lives in the same way, Harry reluctantly acknowledged that perhaps there was a possibility that this had been what he'd been experiencing for so long. Towards the end of the book, there was a message from the author. That there were few ways to integrating one's past memories with their current life. Of the more reliable methods was something simply called the Ritual of Awakening, but the details of how it was conducted was kept a secret by the goblins of Gringotts. It was also, frustratingly enough, the only named method.

That led to two separate visits to Gringotts.

The first visit, to confirm what had been written in the book. That visit hadn't really taken as long as he'd thought it would, and thus, he'd returned before anyone could realise that he'd vanished in the storm of pranks the twins had conducted to distract everyone. It had, however confirmed the ritual's existence, as well as what would happen should someone go through it. Attaining the skills and abilities of his past self, changes in his appearance appearance, and full access to his past life's memories.

The last, was perhaps what truly pushed him to go through with the second visit. He wanted, no, _needed_ to remember everything. To truly understand that feeling of incompleteness that nagged at him whenever he dreamed.

Thus, with Sirius Polyjuiced as him and sticking to Buckbeak's room (that no one but Remus, Sirius, or the twins dared to approach), and Harry carefully disguised to prevent anyone from realising who he was, Harry slipped out of the house, and made his way to Diagon Alley.

And as he clung on for dear life as he rode the Knight Bus, Harry wondered if this would be the last time he would truly be just Harry James Potter.

(Or perhaps once again, he would be more than just that. And he wondered, how would it impact his life this time? And would it be more or less than the name of the Boy-Who-Lived already had?) 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter! If you are interested, I've created a tumblr post that will specifically address my thought and reasons for the specific changes. Anyways, thank you for reading this chapter! 
> 
> Kiri Kaitou Clover
> 
> [Chapter 1 Changes Commentary](https://rainixdra.tumblr.com/post/615301412746854400/ctdritl-onward-to-a-brave-dawn-chapter-1)
> 
> _A brave dawn is a new beginning. And it takes bravery and courage to step forward and to decide that this fic deserves a new start._


	2. A Ritual of Awakening, A Dive to Heart

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A new old chapter, some things the same, some things different. 
> 
> Some things yeeted to a different chapter and a different day to deal with
> 
> It's been two, maybe three month since I first posted the rewrite, but hey!
> 
> Here's chapter 2.

Being early in the morning, Harry was very aware of how empty and quiet Diagon Alley was at the time. But he wasn't here to contemplate on that. Instead, he made his way to Gringotts, ignoring the lack of bustle on the streets.

Gringotts too was mostly devoid of its usual bustle and noise, the goblins in their stations, preparing for the long day ahead. Nodding in greeting to Griphook, Harry was led further into the bank. 

"I see you made your decision, Mr Potter?" Griphook asked, as he opened the door to a large room with a circular glass floor, blank and empty. "Once you go through with the ritual, there's no turning back to who you were before."

"I'm sure about this," Harry said, looking at the circles on the glass flooring he had a feeling made up a part of the ritual. Surrounding the glass, Harry could see small marks of what he could only assume to be runes, carved into the ground. "So I'll just have to sleep in the center?"

The goblin nodded, ushering Harry into position, "The longest it's taken was around three hours, but because each experience is different for each person, it maybe longer or shorter. Either way, you'll know when the ritual takes hold."

Harry nodded, laying himself in the middle of the room, and closed his eyes. As he let himself fall asleep, he heard Griphook close the door to the room, reassuring him that once he was done, all he needed to do was knock the door.

Soon, his breathing evened out. Sleep soon claimed him, and unseen by anyone, the runes began to glow brightly, and shapes began carving themselves into the glass.

* * *

He should be asleep. 

And yet, when he opened his eyes, Harry found that he was no longer in the ritual room. Instead, a dark void surrounded him. He was sinking down in empty nothingness, and yet, it felt like he was drowning in water, unable to breath. 

As he sank further and further, his feet suddenly collided with ground, clinking loudly as if he'd hit glass. Light began glowing at its edges, and suddenly, Harry could see that he was on a circular platform. 

~~(Yet the platform remained covered in darkness, as if something prevented the light from fully revealing it.)~~

Harry could breath again though, as if arriving on the platform had freed him from drowning in the void above him. When he looked to see where he'd come from, however, he was surprised to see clouds blocking his vision. Storm clouds, normal white clouds, rain clouds. The rumbling of thunder sounded around him and Harry found it curious that none of the clouds seemed to merge together. And yet, despite the threat of rain, Harry felt relaxed, as if he was welcome here. 

~~(Was this just a dream? Or was it the ritual itself?)~~

Soon, bubbles floated up from the ground. Harry blinked, unsure of what they were, hesitant to touch them. Above him, the white clouds descended, within reaching distance, but not enough to block his vision and movement. 

Cautiously touching one of the bubbles, Harry flinched. 

(Why was he just sleeping there? Why... no, how was he too late? He promised to protect him and yet...)

Harry took a step back in shock, mumbling to himself, "Are these his feelings? His memories?"

Shaking his head he cautiously touched another bubble and this time, the memory was different.

("Hey, slow down! Would you just wait for me?" "Giving up already? Come on, Sora." "That's enough, I can't run anymore!")

It was playful. Childish and playful and gave him a name to put to one of the two he'd been dreaming about. 

Sora. It felt like a freeing name and Harry still didn't really know him. Not until he looked through all his memories. 

And Harry did.

Every time he picked up a bubble, he was hit with an onslaught of memories. 

(She was taking off his hood. No! He didn't want her to see what he'd become in his attempts to protect them both! 

"Riku, you're really here?")

Every time he touched one, it was always full of emotions that were his and yet not at the same time. Either of joy, of suffering, of hurt, of laughter. Harry continued to watch the memories, absorb them into him, re-experience each pain filled or exhilarating moment, never noticing each bubble vanish into the white clouds, colouring them one by one. 

("We gotta find Kairi!" Why didn't he understand?! This was their only chance, their chance to leave Destiny Islands! They didn't have time to argue about this! "Kairi’s coming with us!")

Never noticing as the floor below him gradually lightened, the light around him growing stronger and stronger.

(A sunset on a beach. Two in the shallows, one on the shore, sharing the joy of reunion as three others surrounded them embraced the two. They were home.)

And soon, none remained. The now darkened clouds had floated back to join the others. All stormy, some rumbling with thunder, some threatening to rain. He looked above him and felt exhausted by all the memories, yet satisfied. He now had names. He now had his own name. He now had context to the feelings he'd had, the dreams he'd experienced. But then the turned to look down, and he had to stare in surprise.

It was a stained glass platform under all the Darkness. One that depicted what he could only guess was his current appearance, combining the aspects of Harry and Riku into one person.

(He was a different person after all, even after all these years. Different experiences, different lives, but still to see the changes visible on his Heart.)

Where the Way to Dawn once sat in his right hand, Braveheart was now there. Near the his left, there were three circles, containing Sora, Kairi and King Mickey as he remembered them. The background had two different lands, one of Hogwarts Castle, the other of Destiny Islands. And lastly, surrounding the entire image, the symbol of the Way to Dawn encircled the platform. 

It was a breathtaking sight, to see the platform lit up and glowing brightly. 

And yet, the part of the platform that depicted Hogwarts Castle remained different. Tinged with Adava Kadavra green, a murky Dark mist seeped through a crack in the glass, shaped in a familiar lightning bolt form. As he touched the mist, he was suddenly hit with an image of a corridor. One he'd dreamed about, but had been overshadowed by all the other dreams, had been less important than finding the truth about himself. 

Yet it angered him to see it. It wasn't something that was his and yet it was there. A foreign element that didn't belong.

As if responding to his emotions, a flood of both Light and Dark (both a part of him, both aspects of his Heart) surged forth from around him, engulfing his Station. The Darkness strangled the foreign mist, forcing it through the crack and destroying it at the source and the Light washed over the crack, filling the gaps and sealing it. Both then rolled back, revealing unblemished glass, Hogwarts Castle standing proudly. 

It didn't come without consequences. Once the crack was sealed, all he could feel was a constant, throbbing pain on his forehead, and all he could hear was someone screaming. Was it his own screams? Or was it someone else's?

Either way, Riku learned that despite it being his own Heart, it was still possible to fall unconscious, as darkness engulfed his vision once more as he collapsed onto the glass, blinded by pain.

* * *

All the while, within the ritual room, colour bled into the glass around his sleeping form, completing the replica of his own Station of Awakening platform.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As I did last chapter, I decided to make a changes commentary post that's on tumblr for you all to read addressing my reasoning for the changes that I've made for the chapter.
> 
> Hope you all enjoyed reading!
> 
> [Chapter 2 Changes Commentary](https://rainixdra.tumblr.com/post/622709942788489216/ctdritl-onward-to-a-brave-dawn-chapter-2)


End file.
